


We are the Kids from Yesterday

by Harlequinade



Series: The Story ends with the Good Guys...? [2]
Category: My Chemical Romance, The Used
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, M/M, Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2015-07-15
Packaged: 2018-04-09 13:31:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4350641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harlequinade/pseuds/Harlequinade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A noise from the outskirts of the skinny campus sidewalk gave Frank pause. He shifted nervously, gripping his backpack, which was slung over one shoulder, tightly. "Hello?" He called, but no one answered. Of course no one answered. He’d seen this movie before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We are the Kids from Yesterday

Frank sighed, pulling his book bag up further. The campus of the college was dark and deserted; only the high school student was walking across it.

 

He stepped into the shadows (had the college stopped paying their electricity bill or something? There were hardly any street lamps on) and started walking back towards his car on the other side of the campus. Because of course he had had to park the furthest distance from where his classes were, with Frank’s luck.

 

As he walked along the sidewalk, Frank watched the dandelions and grass bend in the slight breeze. Shuddering slightly, he pulled his jacket closer and would have zipped it up if his stupid zipper wasn’t broken after Lucy, his beagle puppy, had been alone with it.

 

Not for the first time, Frank missed Mikey. Mikey had been his best friend since freshman year of high school, ever since Frank had mentioned how great Anthrax was and Mikey, who had been sitting right behind him, had looked over those stupid glasses of his and said deadpan that Bowie was better. All the while wearing an Anthrax shirt. They had been in a college math class together before Mikey died falling off a bleacher. A bleacher.

 

When Gerard, Mikey's older brother had first told him, Frank had started laughing hysterically. He had almost been crying. Because Mikey was supposed to live longer than Frank. The one with the awful immune system who caught pneumonia twice a year was supposed to have an asthma attack or something and die before thirty. Mikey didn't deserve to die from some freak accident before he'd even graduated high school.

 

A noise from the outskirts of the skinny campus sidewalk gave Frank pause. He shifted nervously, gripping his backpack, which was slung over one shoulder, tightly. "Hello?" He called, but no one answered. Of course no one answered. He’d seen this movie before.

 

Frank grabbed a tree branch above his head and broke it off, holding it like a club. This was totally a horror movie in the making, and the people who just kept on walking in this kind of situation end up getting an axe through their skull.

 

He kept it high as he looked around at the dark green foliage. The trees on either side of the small ‘garden’ that the campus had set up made it even darker than the areas where the lamps were either flickering or completely out. There were absolutely no lamps in the garden area. Plenty of areas for a murderer to be hiding. Perfect.

 

The footsteps behind him made Frank yelp and spin, taking a swing at the person. He hit them across the face and the person went down hard. That’s when Frank realized it was Bert McCracken, the strung out student who slept on the benches in the university buildings and lounge areas.

 

“Oh my god Bert! I’m so sorry!” Frank knelt next to the dark haired man and gave him a hand, pulling him up. “I thought you were Jason Voorhees or something!”

 

Bert put his hand to his head and winced; the place where Frank had struck him was already beginning to swell. “It’s cool bro. This part of campus is where the assholes prank unsuspecting people and steal their wallets.”

 

“Really?” Frank pulled his backpack a little closer to him.

 

Bert laughed, a hiccuping, kind of slow laugh. “Chill, I’m messing with you.”

 

Frank relaxed slightly. “Oh, and sorry about this, Frankie.”

 

“What -” Frank began to ask, but then Bert grabbed him, pinning the slight punk’s arms to his sides in a bear hug and lifting the eighteen-year-old off the ground.

 

“Bert, what the fuck?” Frank nearly shrieked, kicking his legs. Bert began walking, holding Frank above the ground as he struggled to get away.

 

“Sorry, man.” Bert shrugged. “But Cole’s very persuasive.” He was walking toward the library, still carrying the short high schooler.

 

“Who’s Cole?!” Frank squeaked furiously. “Hey, someone! HELP!” He yelled.

 

Bert slapped a hand over Frank’s mouth. “Hey, cool it little man.” He didn’t even react when Frank bit him, beyond tightening his grip until Frank began coughing and wheezing, almost having an asthma attack. “Cole’s the dude whose girlfriend you were feeling up last week.”

 

That’s what this is about? Frank thought. Felicia was a girl he met at a party a week or so ago. Yeah, the making out had gotten kind of heated, but he hadn’t been some kind of pervert or anything. Felicia also didn’t mention that she was cheating on anyone.

 

“He asked me to just, teach you a little lesson.” Bert slammed Frank into the light post outside the library, which suddenly became a golden circle of light as the force knocked the lightbulb back into position. The entire world was green and yellow - Frank couldn’t see anything beyond the immediate vicinity of the pole, which was predominantly Bert’s red-rimmed eyes.

 

Frank’s head connected with the metal and he gasped, the impact jarring his brain. He attempted to run, but Bert’s hand kept him in place as the older man began to Duct tape Frank to the pole. Frank, too dizzy and disoriented to fight back, let him.

 

“And hey, if you start to yell again, I’ll have to knock you out.” Bert shrugged. “Don’t wanna, but that doesn’t mean I won’t.”

 

“Look, dude. I didn’t even know Felicia was in a relationship!” Frank said desperately, shaking his head to clear it and trying to break away. The Duct tape wasn’t giving.

 

“Not my problem.” Bert said with a shrug. “Cole doesn’t care.” He cut the Duct tape and saluted the helpless raven-haired boy. “Faculty arrives at six in the morning tomorrow.”

 

“Hey. HEY!” Frank yelled. “You can’t just leave me here!” But Bert was already gone.

 

Frank struggled, trying to rip or stretch the Duct tape enough to get away, but it wasn’t giving. It wasn’t long before he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket, but he couldn’t reach it. His mom was probably freaking out.

 

It was a few hours before anyone came along, and even then, it wasn’t exactly the best circumstances.

 

Frank had almost fallen asleep standing up (which was so uncomfortable, holy shit) when something caught his half open eyes. Pushing his feet closer to the pole so he could stand up straighter, he looked towards the library. Somebody with greasy black hair and a slouched posture was just emerging. Whoever it was was reading, and hadn’t even noticed the kid tied to the lamp post.

 

Frank wasted no time. “HELP!” He screamed, voice cracking at the volume he forced it to. The figure looked up, placing a finger in the book and shutting it, bookmarking their spot.

 

“Frank?” The voice was slightly higher, but definitely male. And very confused. “What are you doing over there?”

 

“What does it look like?” Frank laughed hysterically. “Bert McCracken jumped me and tied me to a pole!”

 

“What?” The figure got closer and suddenly Frank realized it was Mikey’s older brother Gerard. He was wearing a purple striped scarf around his neck and a long black overcoat in the middle of June. Gerard’s black hair was tangled and looked like it hadn’t seen the inside of a shower in quite a while.

 

“Just help me out!” Frank yelled.

 

“Okay, okay, geez!” Gerard was next to him, kneeling and picking at the tape with black nails bitten down to the quick and stained with coal and ink. “What did he do? Glue these together?”

 

“I don’t know!” Frank said exasperatedly. He glanced over towards the parking lot and froze, eyes sliding back to look at the concrete where he had seen movement just a moment ago. At first, he didn’t see anything. Then it happened again.

 

He thought he was hallucinating. I mean, how often do you actually see the pavement bubble like a freaking puddle? Then the claws came up through the ground and dug right through the concrete with a sound that hurt Frank’s ears.

 

Gerard looked up at the sound, falling backwards in shock. “What the fuck?!”

 

It was a huge paw - about the size of Frank’s backpack and dark brown and scaly and another paw was coming out and Frank couldn’t get away.

 

“Gerard?” Frank’s voice was shaking. “What’s the ETA on you finishing up with the tape?”

 

“It’s not coming undone!” Gerard’s voice was higher - panicked. He was ripping at the tape, but his fingers were sliding uselessly against the slippery bonds.

 

Renewing his efforts, Frank was pulling, pulling, trying to get away, but the bonds weren’t giving. It was like being in a nightmare where you can’t run, only he couldn’t even try to run. His breathing was picking up and he couldn’t look away as the creature appeared.

 

It was awful looking - like a cross between a bear and a lizard, all brown with a huge jaw, but scaly and with reptile-like paws. The thing roared and Gerard shot up immediately, looking the thing dead in the eyes.

 

“Gerard?” Frank’s voice was squeaky and out of the corner of his eye he was watching the beast, but most of his attention was focussed on Gerard, who had just abandoned him to the creature.

 

The college student was gripping his backpack in front of him as if to protect himself from the thing, and his hazel eyes blown wide with fear and boots slowly backing up, scraping on the concrete. The bag was half open and Gerard hadn’t even taken the time to close the thing - simply putting his hand in the bag and gripping the inner material.

 

Frank turned back to look at the monster. It seemed to be pausing to smell the air, but then it turned its beady eyes on him. It’s face lit up with recognition (how did it know him?) and it began stalking closer to him. Frank, breath coming at a big cost, began to tug halfheartedly at his bonds. Terror was making him slow and weak.

 

Suddenly, something hit the beast in the face and it roared, pawing at its face in pain. Frank screamed, turning his face to the side as a tail came whipping around and sliced open his cheek. The shock of the pain suddenly cut off the terror induced adrenaline and Frank passed out, sagging into his bonds.

 

.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

 

“Frank?” Someone was touching his shoulder gently. “Frank, wake up.”

 

The atmosphere was dark, damp, and suddenly Frank was aware he couldn’t breathe. Great. Asthma again. He sat up quickly, almost beaning Gerard in the nose with his forehead.

 

“Jesus!” Gerard scrambled back.

 

Frank didn’t say anything, just put his head between his knees and tried to breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

 

“Frank?” Gerard’s voice was worried, and Frank felt his hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

 

Frank nodded slightly, waving his hand. He was too busy trying to get enough air to actually talk to Gerard and waste his precious air.

 

“Wait.” Gerard said, and Frank heard his feet running off, stopping and Gerard rifling through something, then coming back. “Is this what you need?”

 

Frank looked up to see Gerard holding his inhaler. He grabbed it and used it, taking a few more doses before his lungs opened up enough for him to relax, heartbeat still thumping through his ears.

 

Gerard sat down next to him, looking almost ashamed. “Mikey mentioned you had asthma and always carried your inhaler in your bag, so…” He shrugged.

 

“Dude.” Frank croaked. “Do you think I’m mad about you helping me stop suffocating?”

 

Gerard shrugged, looking sheepish.

 

“What was that thing?” Frank asked, looking around for it. “Where’d it go?”

 

“I don’t know - it went back through the portal or whatever after you passed out.”

 

“What’d you hit it with?”

 

Gerard shifted, “Um, my book of Ancient Greek Sculpture. That was what I was reading on my way out of the library. I have a paper due in a few days about Medusa’s influence on art in Greece and being me, I left it until tonight.”

 

“Really?” Frank laughed. “That was enough to make it leave us alone?”

 

“Well, a thank you would be nice.” Gerard snapped, then looked guilty. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled.”

 

“Nah, it’s cool.” Frank suddenly realized he was sitting on the ground. “Did you untie me?”

 

“Yeah!” Gerard pulled out a hunting knife from his bag. “I borrowed this from Ray Toro - totally forgot I had it. But I felt it when I was searching for that book to throw at that son-of-a-bitch.”

 

“Why didn’t you throw that at the creature?” Frank asked almost irritably. He got up and grabbed his bag, dropping his inhaler back into his bag, slinging the pack over his shoulder.

 

“I can’t throw knives. Thought it would be better to go for weight than pointiness.” Gerard picked up his pack and began walking with Frank back towards the parking lot. “Are you just going to go home now?”

 

“What else is there to do?” Frank shrugged. “We’re alive and now I’m going to go home and sleep for a year.”

 

“But - it was a monster!” Gerard sounded excited. “It’s a whole new species that we’ve never seen before!”

 

Frank spun to look at Gerard straight in the face. “And I almost got killed. So did you, Gerard! I’d rather not provoke whatever that thing was again. Did you notice that it looked at me and knew me?!”

 

Gerard looked shocked, mouth half open as Frank continued. “I’m not going to go looking for a thing like that ever again. And if you’re smart, you won’t either. This is way over both of our heads!”

 

Frank fished his car keys out of his pocket and unlocked his car, getting in and slamming the door. He turned to look at Gerard and the look of Gerard’s face made him pity the college student for a second. He rolled down the window and said softly, “I’ll see you around Gerard.”

 

Then he started the car and never looked back.

 

 


End file.
